JIM CARROLL on music
It was the music TV highlight of the year so far as Tyler, The Creatorand Hodgy Beats started a riot on Late Night with Jimmy Fallonlast week. Check it out on YouTube and you too will be shouting "wolf gang" at the screen – or muttering that it's the end of civilisation as we know it.
You might not have heard of Tyler, The Creator, Hodgy Beats and the Odd Future crew before now. Every so often a bunch of kids come along to shake things up, and now is the time for the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, to give their full name, to shine.
OFWGKTA are a gang of whipsmart, bratty, snotty teenage rappers, producers, skate kids, visual artists and mischief-makers from LA. Led by Tyler, the Creator, the Odd Future crew will remind some of trying to decipher what the Wu-Tang Clan were all about when they first broke out of Staten Island, but the comparison begins and ends there. Odd Future are a very different proposition to the Wu.
Their gritty, grimey rhymes are probably going to alienate twice as many people as their sound attracts, but they don’t really give a damn if people find them objectionable. There’s a thrilling, unpredictable swagger to them that we haven’t experienced in hip-hop in yonks. Here’s a gang who are doing this for their own amusement and are not adhering to any rulebook.
But it will be interesting to see what happens now that the mainstream has come calling. XL boss Richard Russell has signed Tyler for an album (due in April) and their profile is already skyrocketing. Keeping that swagger going is about to get a little harder. And just where the hell is Earl?
For more see: irishtimes.com/ blogs/ontherecord
New music
ICONA POP
Dashing electropop from Swedish duo Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, who first tickled our fancy with their track Manners on a recent Kitsuné compilation. New single Still Don't Knowis fresh, carefree and beautifully euphoric. You can colour us smitten. myspace.com/iconapop
LOST IN THE TREES
This was once a solo affair by North Carolina dude Ari Pick, but he's since brought a bunch of like-minded musicians into the frame. As evidenced by debut album All Alone in an Empty House, for Anti, they're all about elegant, evocative, emotional folk-pop with some fancy touches. lostinthetrees.com
FRIENDS
Prepare to meet your favourite new band. New York band Friends already sound like the real deal, with a lovely shimmering mix of Tom Tom Club-style swagger, far-out pop sheen and tropical grooves under the bonnet. Debut single Friend Crushis out next month on Lucky Number. myspace.com/friendsband
Now playing
The Low Anthem Smart Flesh(Bella Union) The best album ever recorded in an abandoned pasta-sauce factory in Rhode Island. Superior quality spooky folk-pop.
ASKA I'm a Hunter(Manimal) Exceptional left-field pop with a kooky, atmospheric edge from Japanese-born, LA-based Aska Matsumiya's forthcoming EP.
Various Bangs Works Vol 1(Planet Mu) The soundtrack to Chicago's highly competitive footwork scene's dance-offs, with banging tunes from DJ Nate, Tha Pope, DJ Diamond and others.
Julianna Barwick The Magic Place(Asthmatic Kitty) Dreamy, minimal vocal and synth layers make for a truly ethereal album from the Brooklyn-dwelling performer.
Fitz and The Tantrums Moneygrabber(Dangerbird) Get going with this sliver of punchy retro 1960s soul-pop from Michael Fitzpatrick and band.
